Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Joy and Sorrow
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"Ah..."
A voice slipped out unconsciously.
Dan Hyeran was surprised to realize her voice was far more intact than expected.
It was a little hoarse, but only to the degree you'd expect after a deep sleep.
Which made perfect sense.
The surgery had been on her face, not her throat.
As Dan Hyeran stirred awake, Wi Sowol—who had been sitting by her side—asked,
"Awake?"
"Did... did it... end?"
Dan Hyeran instinctively tried to prop up her limp body and looked around.
It was still the operating room.
She hadn't been lying there all that long, apparently.
Wi Sowol set aside the annotated copy of the White Healing Manual she'd been working on and approached Dan Hyeran.
As the woman tried to sit up, Wi Sowol pressed her shoulders back down gently.
"Yes. You still won't have any sensation yet."
"Um, that..."
"Don't worry. The surgery went perfectly. We'll have to monitor the grafting and recovery, of course."
But that issue could be adequately resolved with Ryu Yeonseo's sound technique treatment.
Problems that time itself would heal, in other words.
Wi Sowol caught a glimpse of Dan Hyeran's desire in her eyes.
"No mirrors yet. Wait until the scars heal. And whatever you do, don't touch it. I did my best to preserve as much function as possible, but it still won't be quite like the original."
"Ah... yes."
"You'll have to be careful with it for the rest of your life."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"The pressure points will release naturally with time, so don't fret. Great Physician Ryu is brewing medicine for you—once it's ready, he'll bring it over. I'll come check when it's time, so just lie there and wait. He'll explain the dosage."
With her fully conscious now, Wi Sowol's role was essentially complete.
Monitoring progress and aiding recovery was Ryu Yeonseo's specialty, more than hers.
Dan Hyeran started to rise again, then remembered Wi Sowol stopping her moments ago and relaxed.
But there was one thing she had to say.
"Thank... you... sniff... truly... thank you..."
She couldn't check her nose yet.
Even so, Wi Sowol's calm assurance was proof enough of success.
Dan Hyeran poured her gratitude and faith toward Wi Sowol into her voice.
Wi Sowol, on her way out, paused at those words and glanced down at the White Healing Manual annotations she'd nearly closed.
She picked up her brush again.
[Prioritize patient's stability. Maintain acupoint sealing post-surgery, but not too tightly.]
[To allow her to express some emotion.]
"Recover well. That's the best way you can help me."
§
Stepping outside, the first thing Wi Sowol saw was Ryu Yeonseo decocting medicine.
She asked him,
"All done?"
"Yes, nearly finished."
"Take good care of her. This was my first surgery like this—I'd like it to set the gold standard."
"...I'm of the same mind."
After a few more words of discussion with Ryu Yeonseo, Wi Sowol returned to her quarters.
She was currently staying in the guest hall provided by the Namgung Clan.
It was a space shared with Hwangbo Yun, so his presence there wasn't unusual, but...
"What's this?"
Why were there so many?
"Ah, you're back?"
Hwangbo Yun beamed innocently and rushed over.
At his words, the others—who had been so absorbed they hadn't even noticed her arrival—stopped what they were doing and turned to her all at once.
'Seon Woo Hyun, Namgung Shin, Namgung Hee, Namgung Hwan, Namgung Ji...'
Namgung Hee made sense.
She'd volunteered as a handmaid and was helping with chores.
Seon Woo Hyun was plausible enough.
Namgung Shin, she'd specifically asked to show his face, so that was fine.
But why were Namgung Hwan and Namgung Ji here?
"Huh? Oh, I ran into them by chance, and they had free time, so I invited them. The more sparring partners, the better. We can even train group combat."
He'd done the same at the Paeguk Sect—this guy had the habit ingrained deep.
Wi Sowol eyed Hwangbo Yun, who spoke so innocently as if nothing was amiss, and decided to let it go with an "I see."
"Just don't make too much noise."
"Gonna sleep?"
"No. Meditate."
Wi Sowol still had much to do.
She gave Hwangbo Yun a vague "keep it moderate" and headed for her room, but the others seemed to have something to say.
"Excuse me, Physician."
"Miss Wi."
Namgung Shin and Seon Woo Hyun spoke at the same time.
They glanced at each other and fell into an awkward silence.
In the meantime, Namgung Ji sidled up to Wi Sowol slyly.
"Miss Wi. Er, no—should I call you Fourth Senior Sister now?"
"No."
Wi Sowol replied coldly.
"If anything, it'd be Master-Aunt. But since my master never formally took Great Physician Ryu as a disciple, that wouldn't be appropriate either."
Wi Sowol knew Namgung Ji had become Ryu Yeonseo's provisional disciple.
Ryu Yeonseo had come to her flustered, asking if it was okay.
No matter that Ryu Yeonseo was hailed as the Jade Sound Maiden and revered among women as a great physician on par with the Six Luminaries—her fame was limited to Jiangxi Province, and women there at that.
It was quite surprising that Seon Woo Hyun had heard the name and come seeking.
He'd mentioned prior ties to the Hao Clan, so perhaps intel had leaked from there.
In any case, Ryu Yeonseo had agonized over whether a former Hao Clan courtesan like herself could take Namgung Ji as a disciple.
She hadn't refused when Namgung Ji first asked precisely because of that status gap.
p>But as time passed, she worried the issue lay more with her accepting.
Unlike Namgung Hwan, who was a late-recognized illegitimate child, Namgung Ji was a direct descendant from the principal wife.
The daughter of the Namgung Clan Lord, the Sword King himself—could she?
Ryu Yeonseo's concerns were valid, but she'd consulted the wrong person.
Wi Sowol, who would ignore even the Sword King asking to take her as disciple.
In the end, Wi Sowol had calmly replied, "What's the problem?"
Ryu Yeonseo, still unsure but reassured, accepted Namgung Ji as her disciple.
They were now formally master and disciple.
That didn't make Wi Sowol and Namgung Ji especially close, though.
Even if Ryu Yeonseo and Ma Yu Seung had some relationship, the Weird Physician Ma Yu Seung's only disciple was Wi Sowol herself.
That was non-negotiable for her.
'Ah, it'd be nice to hear about that before I leave.'
The relationship between Ma Yu Seung and Ryu Yeonseo.
She had a vague sense of it.
But hadn't heard it directly.
The first meeting would have been the perfect time.
Missing that window, there'd been no natural opening amid the rush.
They'd been too busy discussing patient treatments for old tales, with time too short even for that.
"Ahem, Physician."
As Namgung Ji deflated in her attempt to build rapport, it was Namgung Shin's turn, stepping up properly.
"I heard from Hee—you were looking for me."
"Ah, yes, but I didn't expect you so soon."
To come running the moment called.
This wasn't the Reverse Sword Namgung Shin of her past life.
Wi Sowol's goal had just been a parting courtesy before leaving Namchang Hyun.
This Namgung Shin wasn't the Reverse Sword she remembered.
He couldn't be—and it would be problematic if he were.
The Reverse Sword of her past life had grown by stepping on his sister's death and drinking his enemy's blood.
Namgung Shin—the promising later-generation talent who joined the Spear Palace Sword Squad, the Namgung Clan's flagship under the Lord's direct command—was now fully off the trajectory of her past life's memories.
Thus, Reverse Sword Namgung Shin and the man before her were different people.
"I called you to show you something. But it's too early now—let's make time later."
Even so, one thing.
She wanted to impart a trace of Reverse Sword Namgung Shin.
The single sword strike he'd reached.
She probably couldn't recreate it perfectly.
The Sword Ghost Wi Soil of her past life might have, but Moon Flower Divine Maiden Wi Sowol could not.
Even so, a fragment would transmit.
That would suffice.
"Something to show me... Understood. Call anytime. Even if I receive orders from the Lord himself...!"
"Brother, you can't say that. It'd put our benefactor in a tough spot, you know?"
Namgung Hee's sharp rebuke short-circuited Namgung Shin mid-rant, leaving him sputtering.
With Namgung Shin gone, only Seon Woo Hyun remained last.
Wi Sowol looked at him, conveying "say it quick if you have something."
Yet when his turn came, Seon Woo Hyun hesitated oddly.
"No, never mind. Looks like I spoke too soon. Next time."
"...Do as you like."
Now truly done?
Wi Sowol told Hwangbo Yun to keep it moderate and tried to return to her own tasks.
But one lingered.
"Miss."
Namgung Hwan.
"...You have business too?"
"Less me—someone else does. Once the surgery ends, the Lord wishes to see you."
This guy was the real deal.
Unlike the others with trivial matters, Namgung Hwan brought genuine business—Wi Sowol narrowed her eyes.
"The Sword King..."
Of course.
She'd been so focused on syphilis treatments and nose reconstruction that she'd neglected the Sword King.
Wi Sowol's planned meditation wasn't entirely unrelated to him.
Reviewing the surgery, plotting next steps, detoxifying Gong Ya-taek's poison (over halfway done), reining in the Nine Yin Absolute Meridian that flared at the slightest slack... and the Sword King's condition.
She lumped pondering, analyzing, and finding answers for all that under "meditation."
She could rest, purify the poison, and attune the meridian here.
But as the saying went, better rip the rotten horn off at once—since she was out, handling the Sword King too made sense.
Wi Sowol turned back toward the door.
"Tell him I'm coming right away."
§
The Lord's residence, where the syphilis patients had been housed, was in the midst of repairs.
Thus, the Sword King—who'd resided there—had moved to a annex used like a villa, nearly adjoining the rear garden and far more private than the main Lord's hall.
The Lord's hall was for one man alone, a symbol of authority, with no rooms for wives.
The annex, however, had rooms assuming a principal wife and concubines.
When Wi Sowol entered the annex, encountering the Sword King's wife tending him wasn't strange.
"...Ah, Moon Flower Divine Maiden."
The Namgung Clan's matriarch clasped her hands politely upon seeing Wi Sowol.
And used the honorific "Moon Flower Divine Maiden."
With utmost reverence.
Because she was a devout lay Buddhist.
Though her daughter Namgung Ji wasn't much for Buddhism.
In any case, knowing this, Wi Sowol returned a joined-hands bow and stated her business.
"I've come to see the Sword King."
"He's been expecting you. Please, enter."
See?
What fine conversation.
Mutual respect and decorum.
The perfect demeanor of the Namgung matriarch.
A posture compared to none.
'On another level from Lady Golden Screen.'
This was a true noblewoman.
Unlike the Paeguk Sect's matriarch, noble only in appearance.
What good was fine birth?
Or noble blood?
A person must be humane to be human.
Guided by the noblewoman, Wi Sowol entered the annex with ease—only for her warm feelings to cool swiftly.
"...Ahh, finally. I've kept my bedchamber door open every day."
"Pain severe?"
"Very. Made waiting through the night easy, though."
The Sword King's complexion had worsened since last.
His gaunt cheeks seemed sunk another inch.
"The deterioration rate is off. That much?"
"No, not deterioration. Just reverting to normal."
"Not worsening?"
"Embarrassing to admit, but I've been holding out on opium. Procured by Namgung Su himself."
"...Namgung Su."
Enemy of Namgung Shin and Namgung Hee.
Namgung Su and Namgung Yo-wan, father and daughter.
They'd escaped.
Bailed the moment things turned sour.
Namgung Shin vowed to hunt them down and slaughter them.
Perhaps he'd become half the Reverse Sword after all.
"All my failing. Namgung Su likely wasn't Mizhin Fragrance's agent from the start. His past actions don't fit. Once I fell ill, he began sourcing medicine for me. Somewhere in that, he made contact with Mizhin Fragrance. Gradually corrupted."
"Not my concern. Vengeance on them is yours."
Good enough to know it wasn't acute worsening.
Dismissing his explanation, Wi Sowol prompted a grumbled "Yes, as expected" from him before he perked up his sunken voice.
"Joking aside, I did keep the door open. Opium's waning is major, though it hasn't fully worsened. Hoped you'd come anytime."
"You're a transcendent master. A month won't be fatal."
"Maybe... not entirely."
Humility?
No.
The Sword King truly believed it.
Further.
"If anything, that's why it feels harsher."
Despite his self-attained supreme realm, he thought he couldn't overcome this state.
"I want to examine properly."
"Slice me open again?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"No, that'd confirm best. I'm ready. Go on, rummage through my guts."
Quite the talent for odd phrasing.
In her past life, never meeting him, she'd pegged him as just a skilled swordsman.
Now she suspected the Sword King's legends were all desperate Namgung PR.
"Lie down for now. Let me check."
"Lying suits you best? Very well."
"...No talking during pulse diagnosis. What inner cultivation method do you practice?"
"Thought my state was from skipped qi circulation? Worried about thunder qi?"
The Namgung Clan famed for Heavenly Thunder Emperor Art.
The Sword King chuckled.
"No worries. Never trained thunder qi. Too constitution-dependent. I practice Spear Palace Grand Linked Sword Art."
"Good."
Wi Sowol nodded—that settled it—and channeled Great White Light True Qi into him for diagnosis.
She'd checked once before, but this was still abnormal.
Astounding, bizarre—what word fit?
Unprecedented in her experience, no similar cases in the White Healing Manual.
'How can bones do that...'
Not normal bones.
Arm and leg bones blatantly aberrant.
What to call it?
'Bone issue: gu (骨). Growth in areas that shouldn't: flesh (肉). Forming masses like boils: tumor (腫).'
If named formally.
Osteosarcoma fit perfectly.